Jaden McDaniels looks like the Timberwolves’ cleanest answer at power forward, even if Chris Finch isn’t ready to make that call just yet.
That much came through in Finch’s conversation with former Wolves beat writer Chris Hine. Asked about McDaniels and how he sees the lineup taking shape, Finch made it clear he doesn’t picture an immediate move to the four.
“I don’t immediately envision Jaden just moving over and playing the four,” Finch said. “While I can see at times he’ll play there and maybe play a good number of minutes there, I don’t see that right off the bat, and I don’t necessarily, in my mind’s eye, see that as a starting lineup with him there.”
Still, the case for McDaniels at power forward is hard to ignore. It would let Minnesota get the most out of what he does best on defense, even if he continues to spend plenty of time on the perimeter. Over a long season, that kind of role could help keep him fresher while maximizing his impact.
The real appeal is what happens around the basket. McDaniels working as a weak-side rim protector next to Rudy Gobert would make life miserable for opposing offenses, with the two of them effectively sealing off the paint.
That setup would ask more of the guards on the outside, but the Wolves have options there. Anthony Edwards, Jaylen Green, Jaylen Clark and Donte DiVincenzo, once he returns, are all described as capable perimeter defenders.
Even if Finch doesn’t open the season with McDaniels at the four, the argument is that it won’t take long for that to become the obvious move. It could preserve McDaniels for the stretch run and the playoffs while lifting the defense as a whole. For Minnesota, that’s the kind of arrangement that gives them the best of both worlds.
If McDaniels stays at the three, though, the Wolves still need a solution at power forward. Trading for one this late in the offseason seems unlikely, though the timing of the Karl-Anthony Towns trade makes it hard to rule anything out completely. On the free-agent market, Jonathan Kuminga is the only starting-level option still available, but his price tag appears to be too high.
That leaves the Wolves with an in-house answer, and the cleanest fit may be a low-maintenance fifth starter. Josh Green and Jaylen Clark stand out in that lane. Neither is a natural power forward - Green is 6-foot-6 and Clark is 6-foot-5 - but both bring something useful to the table.
Green gives Minnesota an elite corner shooter and a physical defender on the perimeter. Clark brings even more defensive juice; he’s described as an otherworldly perimeter stopper, maybe the best on the team.
The problem has been his offense, which has kept him out of the rotation before. If he can become even a respectable three-point shooter, he could become a regular piece for the Wolves this season.
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